Studies on Constituents of Higher Fungi of Korea (LXXI) -Application of Enzymes to Taxonomy of Ganoderma Species-

The genus Ganoderma is typical wood-rotting fungi and its fruiting body has been used as an important herb in oriental medicine. Recent research discovered antitumor components from Ganoderma lncidum. Various Ganoderma species are being cultivated in Korea. However, taxonomic system of the genus Ganoderma has been based mainly on the macromorphology of fruiting bodies and the ultrastructural characteristics of basidiospores. Since there are similar characteristics in Ganoderma mycelia grown on the same artificial media, it is suggested that the compatibility of the fungi by di-mon mating be used as an aid to determine the identity of species in addition to the conventional characterization. In this study, we examined physiological and genetical properties such as growth temperature, pH, compatibility and enzyme or protein patterns of laccase, esterase and cellular proteins of G. lucidum RZ, G. tsugae and Ganoderma species cultivated in Korea by electrophoresis for characterization of the isolates. We found that compatibility test and isozyme patterns of laccase and esterase of the mycelia could be used for the differentiation of the isolates. These results showed that Ganoderma species cultivated in Korea is genetically similar to G. lucidum but physiologically closer to G. tsugae than to G. lucidum.